VirtualBox
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- VIRTUAL MACHINES BABY
Contents
Benefits
- freeze, wake, copied, backed up, transported btw hosts
- "Snapshots" - save state of virtual machine, and revert back to that state later
- Reduce hardware costs. Can even deploys workstations on thin clients that access virtual server through RDP
- Deploy "appliances" with entire software configurations, like mail server or BOINC
Terminology
- host OS - os of physical computer
- guest OS - os running inside virtual machine
- VM - special environment VirtualBox creates for OS. run OS "in" a VM. Dictate hardware settings, how much memory, hard disks available, what CDs that are mounted; state information, running frozen, snapshot
- Guest additions - optimizations designed to be installed within the VM specific to particulat guest OS, like making the mouse work seamlessly and the keyboard control
Set Up Virtual Machine
- Click new. Virtual Machine Set up wizard
- Specify name and type of OS
- Specify amount of RAM - 512MB is good
- Specify a virtual hard disk. Standard is to use a large image file on your real hard disk
- Create a new image file to be used as the virtual hard disk, either a dynamically expanding hard drive, or a fixed size (faster) hard drive. Will need to be several gigabytes for most modern systems
Run Virtual Machine
- First time run, will act like a comp with not OS on it.
- "First Start Wizard" shows up helping you install OS
- To give control of mouse and keyboard to guest OS, click inside window
- To revoke control, press left Command key, referred to as "host key"
- Operations like Ctrl-Alt-Delete can be run in the "Machine" menu of VM window
- Close (Command Q) gives three options
- Save machine state - freeze VM, completely sae state to local disk. Can resume VM from the VM start window.
- Shutdown - perform a proper OS shutdown
- power off - Pull the plug immediately!
- Take a snapshot, from "Machine" window
Import Virtual Appliance Package
- widely used vmdk format, with an .ovf extension
- Choose File -> Import appliance. Select .ovf file